Dry toilet paper and dry paper towels do not provide adequate hygienic cleaning which can lead to health problems. One would never wipe dirty dishes with dry paper and put them back into a cabinet, nor would one try to bathe using only a dry paper towel. Toilet care is not complete unless one can bathe with soap and water or use a product that provides moisture and a detergent. Similarly, dry paper towels cannot clean dried debris unless wetted.
In the case of dry toilet paper, manufacturers and marketers have had a difficult time promoting their product to the consumer because toilet care is a subject fraught with embarrassment and antipathy. The topic of toilet care cannot be easily conveyed using conventional advertising and promotion. As a result, most people believe that dry tissue is all that is needed for toilet care.
In 2001, a company in the dry toilet paper industry introduced a wet wipe dispenser which was never commercially successful. Lately, the industry has started marketing overly large wet wipes as supplements to dry toilet paper. Patents directed toward wetting materials have been bought by some manufacturers; however, none of these patents is specifically directed toward enhancing existing low-cost roll paper manufacturing with an integral wetting device that allows the consumer the essential ability to activate the device with one hand for the latent wetting of rolled paper goods.
Dry toilet paper on a roll was patented Dec. 27, 1891. It has been widely accepted and used for over six generations. It is inexpensive, readily available, convenient to use and easy to dispose of. The dispensers for dry toilet paper on a roll are ubiquitous. There is nothing known today that is better or less expensive than dry toilet paper for blotting moisture and removing waste remnants from the body. However, dry paper used alone presents health and hygiene problems that have yet to be solved.
Intrinsically people know that soap and water is needed to properly clean anything. Dry toilet paper on a roll has always been an incomplete product for hygienic cleaning because it leaves behind residue and stain on the body. The residue can contain pathogens which can lead to diseases such as urinary tract infections. Residual stain and residue left behind can also cause odor and garment soiling.
The toilet paper industry is aware of the above problems and has made attempts to deal with them, but no commercial product similar to the invention has materialized. However, a market has developed for toilet wet wipes, preferably used in combination with dry toilet paper, showing that many consumers are aware of the need for moisture in order to be hygienically clean after using the toilet. Unfortunately, wet wipes are expensive and require the use of two different products, the wet wipe in its container and dry toilet tissue. Some wet wipes are large and cause over-wetting, and may be a problem for sewer and septic disposal. Wet wipes that are currently available don't fit existing dry toilet paper dispensers, and there is often not a convenient place to store them.